Shake It!

Anika sure knows how to shake it!! She loves dancing. If music is playing, she's dancing. Gosh I love this little girl. She lights up my world.

Whatcha ma call it

Now this meal isn't vegan. It is vegetarian though. (Side track- I have an obsession with noodles.I could eat noodles for every meal easily!!! And the noodles in this dish are one of my favorites! So chewy, just amazing!)  My Grandma Jo makes a recipe that she calls Chicken and Noodles. It is one of my favorites, mostly because I love the noodles in it. Well when we decided to stop eating meat I was wondering how I was going to eat these yummy noodles still. I just replaced the chicken with vegetables! Easy enough. It cuts the cooking time down drastically also.

I'm not quite sure what to call this recipe (any ideas?!?) So for now it will be...


Noodles, Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes
4 carrots
4 cloves of garlic
8 potatoes
Almond Milk
Butter
16 oz Reames frozen egg noodles
12 oz bag broccoli
4 oz cauliflower
Seasonings
Corn Starch

Fill two pots with water, one for mashed potatoes, the other for the... we'll call it soup. I believe it is about 3 quarts for the soup. I always just estimate it. Put both pots on the stove to boil. Now peel and chop carrots. You can use frozen carrots but I prefer fresh carrots. Once chopped add to soup pot.

Then peel and chop potatoes. You can use as many or as little potatoes as you want, my family loves mashed potatoes, so I use a lot! Once chopped add to boiling water for potatoes. The potatoes should take about 20 minutes. They are done when you can stab them with a fork. Add milk and butter and mash. I never really measure for the milk or butter just add until it is the perfect consistency for you.

Mince the garlic. Again, you can use as much or as little as you want. I once read that in order to get all the benefits of garlic you should let it sit out for 10 minutes before adding it to anything. I try to do that, but don't always have time. Add to soup pot. 

Now it is time to season the soup. You can add whatever you want, I always add different things, but this time I used: Basil, Black Pepper, Ginger, Thyme, Paprika, Rosemary, and Salt.

Once the soup water with garlic, carrots and seasonings is boiling add the noodles. They take about 20 minutes to cook.

When there is about 5-7 minutes left with the noodles add the broccoli and cauliflower. You can add any vegetables you like, we just prefer this combination. Now bring it back to a boil. Once it is back to a boil add corn starch, follow directions on container, usually I only need 1 tbsp of corn starch.

Some days Anika and I have a great day in the kitchen, we laugh and dance and sing. And then we have bad days when she screams half the time. Today, she screamed. I can't wait until the day she is old enough to help me cook and bake.

Once the soup and mashed potatoes are both done its time to eat! We usually place mashed potatoes on the plate first then pile the soup over it. My husband doesn't like his to be soupy so he just puts noodles on his, I like to add a little bit of the broth on mine, makes it tastier. Enjoy!

"Spaghetti."

Spaghetti is a term that is used quite often in my house. I'll give you a little example.

While eating dinner.

Me: "Sweetie, we need to go grocery shopping soon, what would you like to eat for dinner next week? We don't really have anything left in our fridge. When I was younger I babysat for a family that had the coolest fridge I had ever seen. The parents went to a Blue October Concert once and asked me to babysit. We went and played in the cat tails while they were out. My friends and I used to do that a lot, play in the cat tails. Our favorite time was in the winter, the creek would freeze over and we would play hockey on it with our friends hockey sticks. They also liked fish a lot, had at least two fish tanks in their house. I need to see my friend Ashley, she is in the army and is moving to Alaska soon. Could you imagine living in Alaska. I wonder how cold it gets. We should watch The Proposal tonight, I really like that movie." 

Gabe: "I don't know what I want to eat for dinner next week. What about hockey and Alaska???"

Me: "Spaghetti."

I know its not a picture of spaghetti, but her face is covered in spaghetti, and its so cute!

In middle school, we had a speaker. She was telling us all about the birds and the bees. Telling us that we should wait to have sex because when its the right time we will see fireworks. All that jazz. Then she told us that men were like waffles and women were like spaghetti.

It sounds kind of weird. How are men like waffles and women like spaghetti?

This should explain a lot of it.

My husband is very much a waffle. And I am 100% spaghetti. My poor husband has no idea what I am talking about half the time. Well, he figures it out once I break it down for him.

Do you find this to be true? And since I'm sure all of my readers are women, are you spaghetti?

Refried bean burritos with homemade tortillas

Gabe had a dentist appointment this morning to get a cavity filled so Anika and I ate breakfast alone this morning. We had vegan pancakes! Which are amazing and so simple. I'll do a post about them later. For now, lets talk about dinner. Anika was so hungry she wanted to eat her foot!

Dinner tonight was AMAZING! It takes a little more time to do everything by hand but it is soo worth it. Refried beans, guacamole, Spanish rice, lettuce and homemade tortillas!

Refried Beans
1 cup dry pinto beans
1/2  cup dry navy beans
1 package taco seasoning

Follow directions on beans package to cook. Drain all water. Add taco seasoning. Mash. Simple! I don't usually use navy beans but I had them and needed to use them up so I thought, why not!

Guacamole
3-4 Avocados
1/2 Onion
Lime Juice
Salt
Pepper

Chop and peel avocados. Mince onion. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mash. Easy enough.

Spanish Rice
1 cup Brown Rice
1/2 cup Tomato Sauce
2 cups water
Olive Oil
Onion
Green Pepper

Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and 2 cups water to sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup brown rice. Simmer for about 35-40 minutes. Mince onion and green pepper, saute in olive oil. When rice is cooked add onion and pepper.

Tortillas
Recipe from here.
1 cup wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup warm water

Combine all the flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water until it forms a dough.

 

Roll the dough into a big ball and take about an 1 to 2 inch pieces off. Pat the dough flat with your hands or take a rolling pin and roll into circles.

 

Put the dough on a flat pan on the stove and let the sides cook until there are little brown specks on both sides like you would see on other tortillas.

 

This meal does take a little work but I think just tastes so much better when it is all handmade. Anika sure had fun helping too!

 And of course the best part about the dinner, eating it!!

 yum, Yum, YUMMM!!!


Have you ever made homemade tortillas? How did they turn out?